City looks to save some cash

January 29, 2011

Big Spring City Council this week acted on a measure that might help take a small bite out of the city's bond debt, a move that could save taxpayers between $5,000 and $25,000 a year.

The council met with Lubbock-based First Southwest representative Eric Macha regarding general obligation bonds that were issued in 2002. According to Macha, the bonds — which if left on their current course will be paid off in 2014 — are eligible to be refinanced at a lower interest rate that could save the city thousands of dollars during the next three years.

“How much the city can save depends solely on the interest rates, and no one really knows what they will do,” Macha told the council members. “They reached an all-time low recently. However, based just on a .01 percent change, that can change the amount saved from the $25,000 we're looking at now to something much lower.”

Macha explained to the council the move — which, for reasons of simplicity Mayor Tommy Duncan referred to as refinancing — would not effect the pay off date, a fact many of the council members were very pleased with.

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